Winter arrives…some advice from Uncle Drone

It’s got suddenly quite cold over this 10 days and I’m concerned about how my bees may be coping in early winter. Do you have any recommendations for this time of year?

Uncle Drone replies:

Hi concerned beekeeper. By now your bees should have been well fed in October followed by a Varroa treatment and protected from the woodpeckers in November. Assuming that these preparations went ok, all that can be done now is to watch and check the hive security for a while and keep hefting.

Watch to see if they are finding and taking in pollen, how many are flying, what temperatures they are flying at, look in the entrance to see if it is blocked by dead bees, if there are dead bees out front what age are they?

The thing here is that the bees should be just hanging in a state of quiescence and not leaving the hive except to excrete or find nectar and pollen.

If a hive goes light give it fondant, not excessive amounts, but they can take 3-500g in a week if they need it. My preference is to give them some anyway as an Xmas present following a Varroa treatment which should be timed to around Xmas or New Year following a few days of cold.